Olivia Rifai
Thesis title: Profiling neuroinflammatory signatures of disease heterogeneity in C9orf72-ALS
Translational Neuroscience PhD Programme
Year of study: 4
Contact details
- Email: olivia.rifai@ed.ac.uk
Background
Olivia Rifai is a student in the Translational Neuroscience PhD Programme, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the University of Edinburgh Global Research Scholarship. She obtained a BA in Biochemistry and MS in Chemistry in 2018 as part of the Roy & Diana Vagelos Scholars Program in the Molecular Life Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. During this time, she worked with Prof. Nancy Bonini and Dr. Leeanne McGurk using Drosophila and cell culture models to better understand molecular mechanisms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Her current research with Dr. Jenna Gregory and Dr. Chris Sibley at the University of Edinburgh focuses on profiling neuroinflammatory signatures of disease heterogeneity in C9orf72-ALS post-mortem tissue using immunohistochemistry and single-cell RNA sequencing methods.
Qualifications
MS Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
BA Biochemistry, University of Pennsylvania
Responsibilities & affiliations
British Neuroscience Association (BNA)
Knowledge exchange
Publications
Rifai, O.M., O'Shaughnessy, J., Dando, O.R., Munro, A.F., Sewell, M.D.E., Abrahams, S., Waldron, F.M., Sibley, C.R. and Gregory, J.M. (2023) Distinct neuroinflammatory signatures exist across genetic and sporadic ALS cohorts. Brain, awad243, doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad243
Pattle, S.B., O'Shaughnessy, J., Rifai, O.M., Pate, J., Arends, M., Waldron, F.M. and Gregory, J.M. (2023). pTDP-43 aggregates accumulate in the gut and other non-central nervous system tissues prior to symptom onset in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. J Pathol Clin Res, 9:44-55. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/cjp2.297
Rifai, O.M., Longden, J., O'Shaughnessy, J., Sewell, M.D.E., Pate, J., McDade, K., Daniels, M.J.D., McColl, B., Abrahams, S., Chandran, S., Sibley, C.R. and Gregory, J.M. (2022). Random forest modelling of neuropathological features identifies microglial activation as an accurate pathological classifier of C9orf72-related amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. J Pathol, 258: 366-381. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/path.6008
Banerjee, P., Elliott, E., Rifai, O.M., O’Shaughnessy, J., McDade, K., Abrahams, S., Chandran, S., Smith, C. and Gregory, J.M. (2021). NLRP3 inflammasome as a key molecular target underlying cognitive resilience in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. J Pathol, 265: 262-268. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/path.5846
Rifai, O.M., Fletcher-Watson, S., Jiménez-Sánchez, L. and Crompton, C.J. (2021). Investigating markers of rapport in autistic and non-autistic interactions. Autism Adulthood, 4(1): 3-11. doi: http://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2021.0017
Sewell, M.D.E., Jiménez-Sánchez, L., Shen, X., Edmondson-Stait, A.J., Green, C., Adams, M.J., Rifai, O.M., McIntosh, A.M., Lyall, D.M., Whalley, H.C. and Lawrie, S.M. (2021). Associations between major psychiatric disorder polygenic risk scores and blood-based markers in UK Biobank. Brain Behav Immun, 97:32-41. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2021.06.002
McGurk, L., Rifai, O.M., Shcherbakova, O., Perlegos, A.E., Byrns, C.N., Carranza, F.R., Zhou, H.W., Kim, H-J., Zhu, Y. and Bonini, N.M. (2021). Toxicity of pathogenic ataxin-2 in Drosophila shows dependence on a pure CAG repeat sequence. Hum Mol Genet 30(19): 1797-1810. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddab148
Rifai, O.M., McGrory, S., Robbins, C.B., Grewal, D.S., Liu, A., Fekrat, S., and MacGillivray, T.J. (2021). The application of optical coherence tomography angiography in Alzheimer’s disease: A systematic review. Alzheimers Dement 13, 00-00. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/dad2.12149
McGurk, L., Rifai, O.M. and Bonini, N.M. (2020). TDP-43, a protein central to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is destabilized by Tankyrase-1/2. J Cell Sci 133(12), jcs245811. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.245811
McGurk, L., Rifai, O.M. and Bonini, N.M. (2019). Poly(ADP-ribosylation) in age-related neurological disease. Trends Genet 35, 601-613. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2019.05.004
Goodman, L.D., Prudencio, M., Srinivasan, A.R., Rifai, O.M., Lee V.M-Y., Petrucelli, L. and Bonini, N.M. (2019). eIF4B and eIF4H mediate GR production from expanded G4C2 in a Drosophila model for C9orf72-associated ALS. Acta Neuropathol Commun 7, 62. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40478-019-0711-9
Affiliated research centres
Conference details
Presentations
NanoString molecular barcoding identifies molecular signatures of heterogeneity in C9orf72-ALS. Platform talk, European Network for the Cure of ALS, June 2022.
Investigating neuroinflammatory dysregulation and its implications for disease phenotype in C9orf72-related amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Euan MacDonald Centre Postgraduate Symposium (virtual), June 2021.
Investigating neuroinflammatory dysregulation and its implications for disease phenotype and progression in C9orf72 post-mortem tissue. Rapid-fire talk, European Network for the Cure of ALS (virtual), May 2021.
Poster Presentations
Rifai, O.M., O'Shaughnessy, J., Dando, O., Abrahams, S., Chandran, S., Sibley, C. and Gregory, J.M. NanoString molecular barcoding of patient tissue identifies molecular signatures of heterogeneity in C9orf72-ALS. Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), Paris, France. July 2022.
Rifai, O.M., Longden, J., O’Shaughnessy, J., Dando, O., McDade, K., Abrahams, S., Chandran, S., Sibley, C.* and Gregory, J.M.*Random forest modelling of neuropathological features in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis identifies microglial markers as accurate pathological classifiers of C9orf72-related disease. International Symposium on MND/ALS (virtual), December 2021. *Equal contribution
Rifai, O.M., Longden, J., O’Shaughnessy, J., Dando, O., McDade, K., Abrahams, S., Chandran, S., Sibley, C.* and Gregory, J.M.* Investigating neuroinflammatory dysregulation and its implications for disease phenotype and progression in C9orf72 post-mortem tissue. European Network for the Cure of ALS (virtual), May 2021. *Equal contribution
Rifai, O.M., Banerjee, P., Abrahams, S., Chandran, S., Sibley, C.* and Gregory, J.M.* Investigating neuroinflammatory dysregulation and its implications for disease phenotype and progression in C9orf72 post-mortem tissue. International Symposium on MND/ALS (virtual), December 2020. *Equal contribution
Rifai, O.M.*, Edmondson-Stait, A.*, Gadd, D.A.*, Jiménez-Sánchez, L.*, Kent, S.A.*, Sewell, M.D.E.*, Price, D. and Sheppard, J. Raising awareness of FOXG1 through public outreach. FOXG1 Syndrome Research Symposium (virtual), August 2020. *Equal contribution
Jiménez-Sánchez, L.*, Edmondson-Stait, A.*, Gadd, D.A.*, Kent, S.A.*, Rifai, O.M.*, Sewell, M.D.E.*, Price, D. and Sheppard, J. Raising awareness of a rare genetic condition through public outreach. Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (virtual), July 2020. *Equal contribution
Edmondson-Stait, A.*, Gadd, D.A.*, Jiménez-Sánchez, L.*, Kent, S.A.*, Rifai, O.M.*, Sewell, M.D.E.*, Price, D. and Sheppard, J. Raising awareness of a rare genetic condition through public outreach. Neuroscience Day, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, University of Edinburgh, March 2020. *Equal contribution
Rifai, O.M., McGurk, L. and Bonini, N.M. Tankyrase regulates the turnover of TDP-43. Molecular Biology of Aging and Neurodegeneration Retreat at the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Perelman School of Medicine, October 2018.
Rifai, O.M., McGurk, L. and Bonini, N.M. Tankyrase-mediated regulation of transactive response DNA-binding protein (43 kDa). Sylvan M. Cohen Annual Retreat at the Institute on Aging, Perelman School of Medicine, May 2018.
Rifai, O.M., McGurk, L. and Bonini, N.M. Tankyrase-mediated regulation of transactive response DNA-binding protein (43 kDa). Biochemistry Annual Poster Day, Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, April 2018.